Incremental progress is still progress
Set small, clear actions steps to inch towards your goals
Taking action to do something new, or out of our usual routine, can be hard to do. Perhaps the goal feels too big, and we feel overwhelmed, or we are just not clear on how to get started. This can stop us from moving forward at all.
We also have to work against our fixed habits and the fact we spend most of our time functioning on autopilot. We will always trend back towards homeostasis—the pull of the familiar is very strong.
When a goal feels too big or unclear, we need to break it down. We can brainstorm strategies to take, and once we have chosen one, we need to create clear action steps that are small enough to tackle in one go.
For example, say you are unsatisfied in your job and think you want to change careers. You talk about it often but never make any progress. It is not laziness or procrastination keeping you stuck. There are likely powerful emotions like fear and doubt holding you back from moving forward. What if you fail? What if people think you’re crazy? What if you have to start over from scratch and lose all the benefits, power or status you’ve accumulated? These are powerful motivators.
What strategies might you adopt to move forward? You might research job vacancies, talk to a coach or mentor, network with people in other work areas, or study for a new degree or certification to name a few. These are all great options but without clear action steps you still won’t make progress.
Baby Steps
You might start with research. Who can you talk to, or where can you look, to find out more information? Perhaps setting up a call with someone, or logging into LinkedIn is the first step.
It’s worth remembering that incremental progress is still progress. Even when we feel like we are inching along at a snail’s pace, we are still moving forward. Any big change is a journey, with twists and turns and points where it seems no progress is being made, followed by big leaps forward. If you’re feeling stuck, take baby steps.
What is the smallest action you can take today that will help you make the most progress on one of your goals?
